The Game Creator's note:

There seems to be something about aliens and racing - maybe it's all of those long trips in flying saucers, but whatever it is the aliens in this competition just can't get enough of it!

Here ShellShocked Entertainment present us with their take on the racing theme. This game has been lovingly realised, the graphics and presentation through-out are exceptional and you really feel like you're taking part in an arcade racer. The tracks are relatively easy to follow and you don't often find yourself getting lost or going the wrong way. There are power-ups to collect around the track which give you much needed speed boosts, slow down time, explode your opponents or any other of a range of neat tricks. Sadly however a racing game must be judged not only on its looks, but also on how well it plays and this is where we had the biggest problem with Roswell Racer.

You see on a technical level it is fine, the collision is smooth, the cart handling good and the sense of speed is all there. But the other drivers are mind boggling hard to beat - they never make a mistake, they never slip up, they don't fall down holes, they don't miss power-ups or speed ramps. They are, quite simply, perfect and this means you will have hell of a time trying to come even 2nd or 3rd place, let alone the 1st place you need to unlock further levels. We really wanted to see what came after the first level but we just couldn't do it. The driver ahead made no mistakes and we ended up tailing them around the track until the finish line.

When you have opponents infront and behind, weapons like the homing missile seek out the closest opponent - often the one right behind you which is useless when there is one lap to go and you can see 1st place just ahead.

These problems mar and otherwise stunning example of DarkBASIC Professional programming and we can only hope they see fit to release an updated version, perhaps one where you can at least come 1st or 2nd and still get through.

Controls:

Left/Right: Steer
Up: Accelerate
Down: Brake
Spacebar: Hop
Shift: Look behind you
Control: Use power up
Adjust Camera: [] (not recommended)

System Requirements:

32mb graphics card with 32bit color to run.
We recommend a Radeon 9500/ Geforce 4 TI 4600 or better

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